


Five times Newton and Hermann gave a Christmas gift to Mako and the one time she returned the favour

by Theta Sigma (Kiriahtan)



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Christmas Presents, Christmukkah, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Drift Bond, Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen, Growing Up, M/M, The Drift (Pacific Rim), and a bit of angst, pacrim holiday swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2016-01-16
Packaged: 2018-05-09 06:31:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5529509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiriahtan/pseuds/Theta%20Sigma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up in the PPCD isn't easy, fortunately Mako isn't alone. This is a 5+1 fic about all the good that we can do in Christmas and everything good that we can receive.</p><p>My contribution to the PacRim Holiday Swap.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [irishsparkleparty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishsparkleparty/gifts).



> My gift to @irishparkleparty (on tumblr) in the [PacRim Holiday Sawp](http://pacrimholidayswap.tumblr.com/). She asked for Mako, Newt and Hermann and getting a ridiculously (or obviously) shaped present.  
> At the end I wanted to introduce more the ridicously shaped prompt but I just implied it, ops. BUT imagine that all the presents were very ridicously wraped by Newt. 
> 
> This turned out to be much longer than I expected but I'm so proud of it. English isn't my first language so special mention to @hachiseiko (on tumblr again) for being my beta. She was really helpful, fast and nice to me.
> 
> This is a 5+1 fic but I didn't finish all so here you have the 5 things and I'll up the +1 -or I'll try because I am without internet in holidays- the 6th of January because this way I can work on it and because 6th of January is el Día De Reyes in Spain and we got our christmas presents that day! Sorry, irish :'^ I hope you enjoy this for now and Merry Christmas to you and everyone \o/

**1.**

_2016_

_Vladivostok Shatterdome, Russia._

 She was only thirteen years old and everything around her seemed _too_ big.

"She's only a girl, she shouldn't be here..." A little girl was the last thing that Newton Geiszler expected to find in the Shatterdome after his fast passage through the Jeager Academy, running like a thunderbolt.

"She has lost her parents, Dr. Geiszler" Hermann Gottlieb reminded curtly from the other side of the lab.

Newton hissed. He knew it perfectly well: _all_ the Shatterdome knew the story of how Stacker Pentecost had found the little girl, rescuing her, following the attack by Onibaba in Tokyo earlier that year. The girl had lost her parents in the attack. She could only be placed there or in an orphanage house in Japan and Stacker had taken her with him. And Stacker was in the Shatterdome after he was remove from active service and got promoted to marshal -therefore the little Mako Mori was there also.

Knowing the story didn't make easier to see a girl of only thirteen years living on a military base in Russia.

But it seemed like Gottlieb loved to point the obvious.

"I was just saying that this isn't a place for a little girl! Don't you have a heart, Hermann?" Newton accused him with disdain while Hermann was trying to follow his calculations, trying to ignore him.

"I doubt that this is better than to leave her in Japan..." Hermann muttered, trying to get some common sense into Newton. It was a futile task. Hermann still cursed himself for, months earlier, wanting to share lab with him. He had wished it until it has became a reality and he discovered that no, he definitely didn't want to share lab with Dr. Newton Geiszler. But no one had listened his complains.

Nevertheless... it was difficult to look at Miss Mori and not think about how unfair life could be. She was just a child and she had lost everything. She hid behind Pentecost, with wide open eyes and sealed lips, without saying a word.

"Dude, we should do something" insisted Newton. Hermann tightened his grip on the chalk. I was hard enough to work in Russia without Newt being unable to be quiet for five minutes. It was clear that he was thinking about something and Newt didn't have the patience to control himself. Hermann took a breath.

"And what do you suggest, Dr. Geiszler?", he finally grunted.

"I have no idea" Newt sighed, leaving his scalpel and his work and spinning toward him. It was like his question had been an invitation to chat even if Hermann didn't want to talk with him. He just wanted to pretend that Newton didn't exist, that he was only a bad nightmare. It didn't work. "It's almost Christmas..."

It was wold the whole year round in Vladivostok and Hermann hated it, but Newt was right: it was almost Christmas. He had never held such festivals so Hermann hadn’t realized it until Newt said it.

"Right. So what do you suggest?", he repeated. Newton was beating around the bush, Hermann saw it clearly.

"Gotcha!" Newt exclaimed suddenly, almost jumping for joy. "Herms, take your stupid coat! Like now! C'mon!"

Newt commanded him and suddenly grabbed his wrist without caring about what Hermann said about it.

Hermann did have any time to object that his parka was not "stupid" but of comfortable and warm. He never could get Newt to not call him that terrible nickname.

He hated him so much.

···

They had to travel 20 miles to the nearest town to find a toy store. It hadn't been easy and Newton had gotten agitated five times and cursed another ten while his phone tried to connect to the satellite to know where they could find a store to buy a Christmas gift. Hermann had wanted to protest but when Newton became a hurricane it was difficult to stop him and, in the end, he had to resigned himself to follow him in silence.

"What do you think would make her hopeful?" Geiszler asked while looking at the shelves and Hermann still didn't understand what they both were doing there.

It was still difficult for Hermann to digest that only nine months earlier he was thrilled and excited when Newton informed him -by correspondence, as all their contacts- what he was going to enlist to the Jeager Academy like him and that he wanted them to work together. Shoulder to shoulder. But when they had met face to face Hermann had decided that he didn't want to ever have anything to do with Newton Geriszler, PhD. He felt betrayed, cheated, defrauded almost as if it was personal after these three amazing years of letters...

And now they were buying a Christmas gift together, even if he didn't celebrate the festival. Did Newton know it? He doubted it.

But it was for Miss Mori...

"I have no idea", he confessed finally. He could not imagine the quiet Miss Mori playing with dolls, kitchenettes or anything of what they were seeing right now.

"She is a girl. There must be something that she would like" insisted Newton. He had decided to walk out of there with something. "All children need toys and fun and Christmas gifts. Not everyone is like you" he accused him casually.

Hermann _was_ about to retaliate, offended by the free attacks from Newton, who always judging him. But then Newt ran to the middle of the store and Hermann was sure that was forbidden and followed him to try and stop him. But Newt was holding something and exclaimed: "This! It's perfect! What do you think? It's perfect, isn't it? Right?"

Hermann saw the toy and...

"Ah... I'm not sure that it's appropriate, Geiszler..."

"Bullshit! It is _perfect_!"

And he couldn’t do anything. Five minutes later they were paying to return to the Shatterdome with a huge package wrapped in happy red and green.

···

The Shatterdome of Vladivostok was a military base and therefore there was no tradition of festivities -which sucked, in Newt’s opinion. "We are here for work, not for parties" grunted Hermann. He couldn't believe how selfish Newton could be-. They had a special menu for Christmas Eve and the 25th was a free day which soldiers took advantage of call home to their families via Spyke. But the next day everyone had to go back to work again. They were working to save the world.

"Mako!" Newt greeted the girl the same way he did everything, enthusiastically, when he discovered her behind Pentecost as the Marshall came down to check on their progress in the lab.

Mako didn't separate her lips, just stared at the man and Newt laughed.

"So Merry Christmas, kiddo! How’s it going?" Newt asked, now unconcerned about now receiving a response. Meanwhile Hermann was trying to explain his new theory to the Marshal. "Oh, Herms, shut up for a second, man!"

Hermann shot him a glare but Newton was smiling.

"We have something for you!", he said instead. "Right, Hermann?"

"Don't call me..." he began to say but when Mako turned toward him, with eyes wide open in surprise, Hermann realized that this was as good a moment as any other to give her their gift...

He paused. Newton was so much better at this stuff than him so he let him.

"Cool!" Newton looked delighted. "We tough it was a cool idea to give you a Christmas surprise" explained Newt. He went to a corner of the lab to get a great package that was almost half the height of Mako. "Open it!" he invited her.

Mako turned toward Stacker, like she was asking him for permission and the man -who also seemed surprise- nodded with a little smile -the first smile Newt saw in him make, omg-. The girl smiled too, a large and excited smile, and began to unwrap the gift with a care which Hermann felt identified with and could unhinge Newton.

Almost ten minutes later the little girl has holding a box with a 1:90 scale Coyote Tango. Mako's face lit up and Hermann saw that Pentecost clearly recognized the jeager which he had piloted up until a few months ago.

"Ohhh... Thanks..." Mako managed to finally whisper, picking up the robot with amazement and enthusiasm painted on her face, before turning towards them. She was smiling almost too wide. "Thank you so much, Dr. Geiszler. Thank you so much, Dr. Gottlieb", she said with a nod.

Newton smiled widely and he said that she didn't have to thank them -"It was the Christmas spirit, kiddo!"- and Hermann agreed, quietly. But it was the very first genuine smile that he saw on Mako's face.

"Merry Christmas, Mako", he wished her also and saying it to the little and happy Miss Mori, the words felt less strange.

For once Newton had been right. Hermann didn't need to admit it: Newt is going to I-told-you him so badly the following weeks, he wasis sure. He was like a child... worse than Miss Mori.

But now it was the Miss Mori moment.

Before leaving the lab even Pentecost looked them and muttered a soft "Thank you both, Doctors" while Mako tried all the arms and accessories of the robot, fascinate with every detail of the jeager that had saved her.

 

 

**2.**

_2017_

_Sydney Shatterdome, Australia._

 It was December 15th and it didn't look like it on the other side of the world, in Sydney, it was summer and it was hot. Hermann might have gone to the beach if he didn't work to do, if he like the beach or if he were crazy enough -most of the people had developed a fear of bathing in the Pacific in ecent years. But despite the heat, it was December 15th. In the lab you could only heard the sound of chalk on the chalkboard and, suddenly, the obnoxious sound of muffled booming from Newton's headphones when he entered the room, even though he was supposed that he had headphones precisely so no one else heard the noise. That was the point of the complaint that Hermann had officially filed against him months ago -among many others- but Dr. Geiszler's habits were imperturbable.

"Ey!" Newton greeted him, loudly because of the beating music in his ears. "Hermann!"

"What?", he jaded. He turned towards him, having stopped writing. "What is happening?"

"It's December 15th, man!" informed Newton as if it should say him something and Hermann looked at his distressing lab mate without any understanding of what it meant. "Ten days ‘til Christmas" Newt reminded upon seeing his expression.

"Oh..."

"Oh, yes" coincided Newton, nodding.

They had discussed this two weeks ago but Hermann tended to easily lose track of time when he was working, concentrating on his numbers and getting his fingers covered in chalk dust. Which was... always.

"Okay, give me two seconds, I'm going" He answered politely, spinning to finish the calculations that he had been running through in his head before Newton interrupted him, and getting off the leadder to pick his cane once he was done.

···

Newton and Hermann had reached a kind of agreement the previous year. Miss Mori had followed them when the whole team moved from Vladivostok Shatterdome -thank you very much- to the dome in Sydney; just as they and the rest of the team had followed the Marshal when he had moved. There were other researchers -good researchers even, not like the both of them as Newton usually said but good researchers still- but Pentecost wanted them both close: they were the best. Also the most problematic but Hermann had already accepted that they weren't going to separate them. It was a misfortunate fate. But the Marshal was right somehow: Newton irritated him, infuriate him, and made him break more chalks this year than in his whole life, but also made him to think faster, wrote angrier and responding more brilliantly to their discussions.

After all these years Newton and Hermann had not ceased to bicker: about Geiszler’s music, about Geriszler's bad manners in the lab, about the fact that he had to do the dissections in the same room while he was trying to work, about Newton receiving calls from his mother during work hours –while he was carrying out a dissection!-, about Newton insisting Hermann call him "Newt" and him calling Hermann by his first name or worse still "Herms"... They bickered about everything, really.

But there was one thing about which theyabout it  agreed. They talked again about it only a few weeks earlier after. And that was why they were there now.

Finding a Christmas gift for Mako was not easy but after two hours of arguing in the shop the two scientists came out with a package poorly wrapped because Newt had insisted in doing it himself -"It is more personal, Hermann!" and "You are doing it wrong and you'rewasting the time of the rest of the shoppers, Newton!" -. It was fortunate that they finally left because Hermann was pretty sure that the dependent staff was about to call security to throw them of the establishment. All Geiszler's fault.

And when the festivities finally arrived -dull in the base, according to Newt, and thus all the more reason to bring joy to Mako- both were able to agree on giving their gift to Miss Mori.

"Happy Christmas!" Newton wished to the girl, fourteen years that winter –summer actually-. She smiled a bit shyly and took the gift.

Finally Newton and Hermann had decided on a book of traditional Japanese cuisine. Tendo had told Newton that Stacker had once commented that he have liked to Mako to not be so far from home.

"Thank you!" Miss Mori smiled and hugged them both and then she said unexpectedly: "I have also made you two a thing."

"Yes?" both scientists exchanged a look. "You didn't have to make us anything...", said Hermann.

"I wanted", she explained her and took out a folded sheet of paper and gave it to them.

Newton unfolded it and it turned out to be a drawing of what they recognized as the K-science lab and, in the middle, Hermann and Newton bickering -Hermann felt his ears burn with embarrassment- and Mako with the Coyote Tango replica that they given to her the previous year. Below it was signed with a sincere ‘thank you’.

The change in Mako since the last Christmas was palpable: she remained a quiet girl but already didn't seemed to hide behind Stacker as much and smiled more often. Very little, but she smiled.

"Look, Herms! It's us!" Newton gave him a nudge, beginning to laugh. "You look like a grumpy old man!" mocked the 'rockstar'. And Hermann felt his ears get hotter, against his will.

"Don't be childish, Dr. Geiszler...", he reprimanded him. “Thank you, Miss Mori", he told her later, bowing his head in her direction.

The girl returned the gesture, smiling a bit.

They both hung the drawing in the lab –or it was more like Newt hung it and Hermann didn’t complain about it-. Less than a month after Christmas Mako presented herself in the lab with a tray of handmade mochis. They could have been improved but were an achievement for being her first time.

 

 

**3.**

_2019_

_Lima Shatterdome, Peru._

 It felt like the yells of the two scientists could be heard all the way from the LOCCENT. Sometimes Tendo believed that both scientists bickered only because of the pleasure of getting to shout at each other. Newton was like an overloaded pile, vibrant with energy. He is the only able to made Hermann lose his temper. He was the only one who could make Hermann lose his temper. And Hermann only ever raised his voice in this way against Newton, using no restraint.

And at that point the mathematician slammed a hand against his desk, finally turning toward his supposed colleague. The hit made the chalk to break in two with a sharp 'clack' which was drowned out by his voice.

"Your opinion?!", he repeated in disbelief. There was no need to trace the point of origin of the discussion because there were too many issues. For example the insistence of the biologist to discredit his work there. "You want know what I can't believe, Newton?" He rescued that suddenly. "That you had the selfishness to choose this... this anime for Miss Mori without consulting me." That was supposed to be something that they did together, tagreeing on the selection of her gift. But Newton had arrived to the lab that evening saying that he had found the perfect gift for that year. "You especially dismissing _my_ opinion."

"The problem with your opinion, Hermann, is that it’s just the same as everything else about you: it's totally bullshit", Newton blurted out, showing off. "Evangelion is one of the best series _in_ the world and if you bothered to overcome your stupid prejudices and had seen it when I recommended it to you, you would agree!"

Newton always knew exactly the words to drive him up the wall.

He really drove him up the wall.

"Mako isn't a girl to give a... _cartoon_ series to" Hermann tried to make Newton see reason. But it was so upsetting.

"Evangelion is more than just a 'cartoon series'! Which would not be bad, either. If you'd get your head out of your stupid ass you'd realize it!"

The bickering continued, their voices growing louder and their shoulders trembling with anger and indignation -impossible to contain the emotions yo only in their words.

Until both turned away and refused to talk again. Hermann's word had the opposite effect: Newton was now even more convinced of his gift. And Hermann had concluded that the only way was to search another by himself, saving himself from arguing with such an obstinate child.

They gave their respective gifts separately that year.

On the day that Mako entered the lab, Newton intercepted her and grabbed her arm before Hermann cwould even greet her. Newton welcomed her with a broad smile and gave her his gift, saying that it was much better than Hermann's. Surprise appeared on Mako's face for a moment, and she looked sideways to the mathematician. Hermann, who refused to separate the lips during the scene, snorting a little, skeptical. Immediately Newton replied with an unfriendly 'Oh my God, shut up already, Hermann!". He smiled to Mako again, recommending she not pay him any attention -"he's just jealous because my gift was better and he knew it and he lost his opportunity to participate."

Mako said nothing about it but thanked Newton for the Evangelion Collector's Edition and Newton's smile brightened a little more.

Two days later Hermann gave her his own gift.

"I don't give much importance to festivities", he confessed even though she already knew it. "But this is for you. I hope you will enjoy it."

He gave her a small box wrapped much better than other years when Newton had insisted on wrapping the gifts himself.

The present, much less frivolous, was a puzzle. He informed her that it was one of the most difficult in the world. It was called the Gordian Knot. Hermann wished her good luck in solving it, hoping she would have a good time working on the challenge.

None of them mentioned the fight between the two scientists. Mako embraced him for a brief moment and thanked him for the gift. Hermann accepted her words soberly and returned to work.

The next day Tendo asked what she’d been given by Newt and Hermann that year and shook his head at hearing the story. But Mako wasn't too concerned.

“They will working it out in the end", she assured him with confidence. That wasn't the first –not would it be the last- discussion about Newton and Hermann. Mako had seen so much other and that was how both worked. It was only matter of time.

Mako suspected that none of them would work well separated now, despite of what they said.

The Gordian knot proved to be extremely difficult to solve, really. Eventually she succeeded, while she was watching the last episode of Evangelion. Eventually the two called a truce –the kind of ‘truce’ they usually had- with neither apologizing or mentioning the topic, just moving on and returning to their basal levels in the lab.

 

  

**4.**

_2021_

_Tokyo Shatterdome, Japan._

 At the end both had become something like Mako's adoptive uncles and getting her a Christmas gift had become like a tradition, Expept that year when they fought and got their gifts separately, December was the only time in which both seemed to agree, trying to elicit a smile from Mako.

"I have been accepted in the Jeager Academy" Mako informed them one of the early days of June. She had submitted her application only a month before she turned eighteen -the minimum age for entry into the Academy- and she just received the confirmation email last night. She had to buy the first ticket to the United States, where the Academy was located almost without time say goodbye. "I have to leave tomorrow but I wanted to say goodbye. It was all very fast".

Newton and Hermann stopped working and turned toward her, surprised by the unexpected words.

When had she become so grown up? Even Hermann left his chalkboard to get closer to her. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone: Mako had said from the beginning that she wanted to enlist. It was natural: she was surrounded by rangers and members of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps. The admiration that Mako felt toward the Marshal was obvious, even to Herman who was reserved and usually avoided social interaction, and even to Newton who was so hopeless at reading people. It had been a matter of time until she arrived with these news but it came as a surprise to both of them and for first time they realized that Mako was no longer the little girl that had arrived to the Shatterdome years before.

"Congratulations, Miss Mori" Hermann extended a hand towards her and the girl agreed to shake hands, politely.

"We will miss you so much" Newton said, walking directly ahead to hug her. "So, finally going to become a pilot, huh? That rocks!"

The words of the two men put a smile on the girl’s face, who returned the hug to both simultaneously.

"I will miss you both also", she confessed with emotion in her voice. "I hope that the Shatterdome will still stand when I return, that you haven't collapsed it with your bickering", she joked a bit in low voice, to their ears.

"Tell that to Herms! He is a pig-headed-"

"No one could be more stubborn than you, Dr. Geiszler..." he muttered. But Newton ignored him and Hermann directed a last smile to Mako. "We hope to see you again converted into a pilot, Miss Mori."

"I hope so", she wished too and her smile was full of hope and contained excitement.

"Good luck", Hermann added later.

They said goodbye one last time and the girl left the lab. In less than twenty-four hours she had to take a plane and she still had to pack and say goodbye to Tendo and everyone else. They would be a very busy few hours.

Both scientists saw her leave. It was going to feel weird not having her around the base. They had watched her grow. The Shatterdome had become Mako's home and she meant so much to that place and its population.

When Christmas came that year, Mako called to say that she couldn't leave the Academy. Despite the 'bad' news, her face was full of enthusiasm. The Jeager Academy was hard as hell, they made rangers, but it was Mako's dream.

Hermann and Newton had agreed to a leather jacket, something every pilot should have sometime, with sheep wool in the collar and a free space on the back  for the logo of the jeager that Mako would someday pilot when she'd graduate. They sent it by mail, hoping that the present reached the US without trouble. It was ten thousand miles from Japan to the Academy.

New Year had already happened when Mako Skyped them with the jacked on and a huge smile in her face. Around fifteen time difference meant that she had opened the mail at nine a.m. and simultaneously it was now the one a.m. in the K-Science lab of Tokyo. But neither Newton nor Hermann had a proper sleeping schedule and they were both working when Mako tried to call. She almost hugged the screen to thank them for the best gift in the history and they both smiled too. She was far away but she seemed too happy.

 

 

**5.**

_2023_

_Hong Kong Shatterdome, China._

 Seven years had passed since Mako Mori had arrived to the PPDC. Twenty since he had been born and seven since she had lost his parents and Stacker Pentecost had adopted her. Seven years since Hermann and Newton first met her. She had grown considerably in all these years --literally too. Although she hadn't beaten Newton with a couple of centimeters, luckily for his pride- and had gotten stronger, especially after passing the Jeager Academy. She was no longer a child, but she kept that calm and serene attitude and the eyes that had characterized her always. The eyes of a girl who had lived in a world threatened by giant monsters and that had grown to become a woman -a young strong and smart.

That year Newton had managed to hang a few blue and silver, red and green garlands –the colors of Chrismukkah, as he himself had decided to name their festivities, without taking into account the opposition of Hermann every year) on Hermann's side of the lab, when he wasn't looking. Both were still working when Mako appeared. The faith in the jeager program had been dropping since Sydney and since some assholes -not to singleout Lars Gottlieb at all- decided that a stupid wall would be a better idea against giant monsters. The budget had started to be cut and there had been so many scientists fired that year so Newton and Hermann had to work harder than ever. But they forgot about that when Mako entered in the room. The year that she had gone through the Academy was noticeable on her shoulders and arms, as well as in her posture and her way of walking.

"Happy Chrismukkah, Mako!" Newt congratulated her with his usual enthusiasm, apparently immune to the fact that last year has harder for the PPDC and the K-Science area. Mako chuckled a bit. Newton insisted on keeping with that peculiar invention since he had discovered that Hermann was jewish, although he wasn't practicing. Numbers, not oblivious gods.

"Happy Chrismukkah to you, uncle Newt, uncle Hermann", she returneded, managing to pronounce the peculiar word. "I see that you've successfully decorated this year."

"Yup! Do you see, Herms? Mako also likes it", Newt Threw in his face with a wide grin of victory.

"I didn't say that she wasn't going to like it. I just said that I don't want useless paraphernalia on my side of the lab", he corrected, leaning on his cane. Mako just watched without a word –a bit amused. She wouldn't never take sides in any of their discussions. No one in the Shatterdome would do it, already used to the peculiar dynamic of the two scientists.

"Happy holidays, Miss Mori", said Hermann however.

And before the growl of Newt on the other side, Hermann breathed and continued:

"We have something for you", he announced and Newt picked up a package from under Hermann's table, where it was safer from getting splattered in conservation liquid or kaiju fluids.

"I’m already twenty... when will you two give up on getting me Christmas gifts?", the girl asked a bit stunned but a bit pleased down deep too. Gifts weren't common in the Shatterdome life. Pentecost got her a present for her birthday every year and sometimes Herc and Tendo would give her a present too but it was unusual and for special occasions. It made it more touching also.

"Shhh, it's the spirit of Chrismukkah, don't spoil it", Newton made her shup ut with a smile. "Don't grow up and become a grumpy oldie like Hermann: he is a bad influence”, he assured her, as if maintain her illusion was his secret mission there. As Mako have expected Hermann growled in response.

Mako smiled weakly, taking a seat to open the package of that year. This time it was a sweater with a jeager and a kaiju fighting, which she doubted that any of these two had woven.

"Aww... thank you", she said, holding it up in order to see it better.

"Do you like it? An authentic terrible Chrismukkah-sweater!" Newton presented it proudly.

"It's horrible. I love it", she nodded, thinking about putting it right now.

But her lips draw a small sad smile as she gazed at the drawing she’d made years earlier. A smile that did not go unnoticed and both scientists exchanged a look.

"What's wrong?", Newt asked right away.

"If it's not an indiscretion to ask", added Hermann, just in case.

She tried to smile a bit better, shaking her head so that they wouldn’t worry about it. Both had taken so much care of her always, like everyone else in the PPDC, since she was a child. She didn't want to be a bother: everyone already did a lot for her.

"It's nothing", she began to say because it had nothing to do with the gift so it wasn’t important right then. But Hermann seemed about to say something which would highlight that it didn't look like 'nothing' and Newt also appeared about to speak so the girl sighed and continued: "It's only that I finished my training at the Academy a year ago... all my teachers were proud of my performance and... Pentecost-sama still doesn't allow me to do the neurological compatibility tests", she explained, even though that wasn't a secret. When she entered at the lab before she had left her folder in Hermann's desk. She was responsible for the organizational and administrative matters in the Shatterdome. She was the right hand of her adoptive father, along with Tendo Choi, but it wasn't how she wanted to help. "He said that I'm not prepared."

But she _felt_ prepared. Her whole body and mind ready, waiting and hoping.

Her words didn't show rebellion but regret. She wouldn't ever disobey or question the Marshal. But being a pilot was her dream. That was why the PPCP was fighting and she wanted to fight also: in order to protect Humanity from the Kaiju, ever since Pentecost had saved her and since Newt and Herman had given her her first Christmas gift, that replica of Coyote Tango, which was her most precious one. Mako had known that that was what she wanted to do. Not hold a folder or organize, but to fight. As Pentecost had fought for her. She also wanted to be in front line now.

"I'm sure that the Marshal will allow you to do the tests when you're prepared...", Herman began to speak but Newton interrupted him:

"You'll be a great pilot! I'm 100% sure", he said effusively, with vivid words. "Don't give in. New year, new life, right? Perhaps this year you’ll finally fly a jeager. You're made for it, I totally believe it", he encouraged and Mako smiled a bit more, though she wasn't sure.  But it was hard to not be infected by the electrifying optimism of Newton.

"Thank you, Newt", she said. When Stacker believed that she was ready, she would run the tests, certainly. She had to rely on his judgement.

She said goodbye to both with a kiss on each one's cheek and left the lab, picking up her folder and hugging the ugly sweater against her chest, ready to continue her work.

"You shouldn't have done that", said Hermann after Mako had left. He pressed his lips with concern and Newt turned toward him with surprise.

"What? That girl is amazing, Hermann, even you have to admit that! She would be a great pilot. Stacker should let her take the tests!" he affirmed with emphasis, certain and vivid.

"We aren't the ones decide that", he flatly reject glaring at him firmly. "Miss Mori is definitely a prepared and competent girl but it isn't our job to question the decisions of the Marshal", he reminded Newton.

And Newt snorted in a derogatory way pejoratively. His inability to respect the authority and the hierarchy was always a conflict between the two. Newton didn’t like the military. It didn’t matter that they both had a rank –it didn’t matter so much since they were in a corner of the Shatterdome, in the science lab, but everyone in the PPDC had one, they too. Hermann still wondered how Newton had been able to pass through the Academy without accepting any authority. Possibly because he was a genius. Hermann's conservative mind couldn't approve it.

"Tsk. You wouldn't say that if you weren’t nuts about Stacker, Newton replied, making fun of him. "You have a seriously military fetish problem, dude…”

"NEWTON!!" Hermann gave an abrupt jump, amazement of his words and throwing the first chalk his fingers could find at Newton, by instinct. He blushed wildly while Newt dogged the projectile and fled to his own side of the lab, with giggling.

Goddamn it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late ;_; so sorry. Those were a busy two weeks for me and my beta (again thanks to the amazing Hachiseiko, she was lovely and patient). Just pretend today is January 6, and the Reyes Magos brought you this~
> 
> I messed a bit with the timeline because in the film the Otachi and Leatherback's attack to Hong Kong seemed to be the same day of Newt and Hermann's drift with the baby kaiju and the triple event and Operation Pitfall but this [timeline](http://pacificrim.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline) \- plus I LOVED it, it was so useful and fascinating, check it!- places the attack to Hong Kong on January 8 and Operation Pitfall, January 12... I tried to keep the chapter the most accurately I could.

**+1**

_2024_

_Hong Kong Shatterdome, China_

Hong Kong was the last bastion of Humanity. A last bastion in which nobody outside the Shatterdome believed. December 2024 was a hard month. The half-year extension that the United Nations had given Stacker Pentecost had been exhausted and now everything was crumbling. The Anchorage Shatterdome was the first to be shutted down, then it was Lima and Tokyo. On December 11, Vladivostok; December 20, Los Angeles; 29th, Sydney. Striker Eureka had been decommissioned from active combat on December 31. The only mark V, the pride of the Jeager program. The fastest, the strongest, piloted by the Hansen duo... on whose code Hermann Gottlieb had put so much effort. He had programmed the first jeager with his father a decade ago; now he was the last programmer that remained in the PPCD.

The next day was New Year.  During New Year’s Mutavore went through the Wall of Life of Sydney, in front of the whole globe on tv. Even Hermann and Newton. Geiszler was the one who always laughed with disdain at the wall and the ridiculous idea that it was, which had stolen all their budget. Hermann hated the wall with equal force although he didn't say anything. But even they watched with horror at how easily Mutavore opened himself a passage through it in just one hour. It was a stupid plan but it was the plan that Humanity had chosen after closing the Jeager program and dismantling the jeagers and the Shatterdomes one by one.

Now all that remained was Hong Kong and they were the only two in the K-Science section. Marshal Pentecost was gone down to the lab months ago and had asked them to continue working with him. Hermann and Newton had accepted at once, of course. There was no hesitation as they had already made up their minds.

Newton had started to speak about his ridiculous idea of drift with a kaiju brain again. It was crazy and Hermann wanted to strangulate him. Because of the stress, probably. He had though that Newton had already forgotten that idea, putting the project to the side as the frontal lobe was damaged, in a corner of the lab. But now he didn't speak of anything else and Hermann had other things to be concerned about. The triple event. He was sure that it was going to happen. His equations were not wrong

Hermann had lost count of the amount of days with less than four hours sleep in the last month when Newton dragged him to eat upstairs, with the rest of the Shatterdome. He said something about him not turning full vampire. It was only an excuse but Hermann didn't put up any resistance. Both needed to eat something and get out of the lab for a while, considering their current conditions. Newton also.

"Mako!" Newt's energy never seemed to exhaust, even under pressure and in a state of sleep deprivation, and he waved a hand to call the attention of the girl; but Hermann could see the signs of tiredness in his body.

"Newt, Hermann... it’s surprise to see you here" Mako separated from the blonde guy, the new American of which the whole Shatterdome was talking about the last few days, and approached them. The guy just smile at her and left them alone.

"Someone had to rescue Herman before he turned into a true vampire. It would be cool but I don't want to carry garlic with me every day", Newton joked and Hermann rolled his eyes.

"Congratulations of your companion, Miss Mori", he said instead. "It seems that you will finally become an active pilot."

"I hope", she said, trying o make sure her smile wasn't too obvious. "Stacker-sama is not very pleased..." About the Becket ways specially. But he was her co-pilot and Stacker her father.

"All he wants is to protect you", explained Hermann kindly.

"He'll change opinion when Mister Golden Retrieved and you save the world", Newton joked, winking an eye to the girl, enthusiast as always.

"Thanks, guys", Mako smiled a bit more, deeply happy of their words. "I didn't have time to wish you a Merry Christmas and happy New Year...", she started.

They hadn’t see her for days since she had to prepare the candidates for the new pilot. The work in the Shatterdome had multiplied indirectly proportional as the resources and the staff decreased.

Today was the 4th of January.

"Fuck!" Suddenly the Newt's expression mutated as he turned toward Hermann. And, as if he could read minds, Hermann suddenly realized what would be crossing Newton's mind at that moment. "Shit, Mako... sorry. We have nothing for you...", Newton started to apologize.

But the girl smiled slightly and shook her head so gentle and so kind as always she was. Comprehensive.

"No problem, guys... I didn't expect any gift this Christmas. Actually I didn't have time o think about Christmas. It has been a tough year...", she muttered. The new year seemed to be turning out as tough than the previous one. And perhaps worse too. The following Christmas the Hong Kong Shatterdome wouldn't be operational for sure, no mattered how much time Stacker tried to gain. And if Hermann was right peraps none of Hong Kong would be there.

But it wasn't enough for Newton who was about to reply when his mobile phone alarm rang in his pocket. He blamed again.

"Shit! I have to go! DNA testing has to be finished already and I have to compare those data and... I have to go!", he repeated in a rush. In less than a second the biologist had fled out like a hurricane, leaving behind his dish of mashed potatoes.

Hermann sighed, shaked his head in disapproval but let him go. Mako had sat down opposite to him by the table so he turned to look at her. She was kind.

"Stacker have raised you well", he said appreciatively. She was probably the most respectful person he knew and that sat well with Hermann.

Mako smiled a bit, turning to look at him also.

"All of you have", she said.

"We had something planned a few months ago but was you said... this has been a really bad year", he excused them. He didn't put as much importance to those dates as Newton did, but... in the end giving a gift to little Mako had become important to him too.

She smiled a bit again.

"Don’t worry about it", she repeated. And then she fell quiet, as if something was taking form in his mind. Or something she used to think but never speak. Hermann didn't interrupt her. Until she said: "... Why do you not give a gift to Newt?"

It was the last thing that Hermann had expected and looked up to her again, surprised.

"To Newton...?"

"Yes. You both have been giving me Christmas gifts half of my life, but I think that he would appreciate it much more...", she explained cryptically. Her eyes were large and round, respectful and wise. (The eyes of a girl who had seen much and had grown to become a strong person – a true pilot). They were looking him over and for a moment Hermann felt exposed and lost.

"... I don't think...", he said finally. He wanted to ask what Mako meant but he failed to find the words, so he left the subject without saying a word.

Mako just nodded a bit.

When she said goodbye she gave him a kiss in the cheek and whispered "Think about it".

"Happy Christmas, Hermann", she wished him aloud with a last smile before retiring, looking for her co-pilot.

Hermann didn't know what to think about Mako's mysterious words... so he relegated it to a corner of his mind. He had too much work to attend, equations to run. The numbers demanded his attention and the clock ran fast, hopelessly approaching to zero. He had no time to think about it, only for work and argue with Newton about his crazy theories and ideas.

···

They had argued about this: Newton would not stop mentioning the drift idea but Hermann hadn't actually believed that he would dare do something so stupid. He should have known that he would. He was Newton. Newton and stupidity were two concepts that went together, like an universal constant.

That was the only thing he could think about when he entered into the lab and found him having a seizure on on the ground with that improvised PONS glowing in magenta red.

He couldn't believe it.

"Newton? Newton!"

It couldn't be true...

The ground injured his knee and the paint climbed implacably, directly to his hip, when he threw himself at Newton’s side, collapsing next to him. His trembling fingers fought with the improvised PONS made from trash, to remove and try turn the goddamn thing off. His hands were trembling and his own voice sounded far away.

"Damn it, Newton..."

The man had his eyes closed and was shaking violently.

His own mind was dizzy, feeling himself sick and dazed.

 _Damnit, Newton... Open your eyes..._ His thoughts were a maelstrom. His ideas, usually perfectly ordered, had been violently shaken by the image of his colleague thrown on the ground, the blood dripping out of his nose... A neural overdose.

The frontal lobe was damaged! It should not have worked. Newton should not even have tried. But of course he did.

Damn Newton.

"Newton! Please. Open your eyes. Bloody hell, Newton. I swear that if you don't..." Hermann lost the trail of his own words, trembling.

 _Open your eyes, Newton. Don't you dare to be dead. Be alive, please..._ He tried checking his pulse. Hermann put his ear next to Newt's mouth and tried to discern if he was breathing. _Don't you dare to be dead after ignore me. You listen to me, you stubborn reckless idiot._

_Don't you dare to leave me._

_I love you._

_Please. Don't be dead. I love you._

···

Newton had survived the drift with the frontal lobe. And he was going to try it _again_. Hermann didn’t care that the Marshal himself had sent him to search for the smuggler to get a whole new brain. Hong Kong had suffered a double attack while Newton was out and now there were another two kaiju emerging from the Breach, deep in the Pacific. And according to his calculations and equations that was wrong. There should be a triple event. Where was the third kaiju? Newton just made fun of him, saying that he was just obsessed with being right but numbers _don't_ lie. Something was wrong.

Hermann found Newton next to the corpse of Otachi's baby. The idea of a kaiju pregnant was still disturbing and Hermann wondered if Newton would have any explanation for it. But Otachi's secondary brain was damaged after her fight with Gipsy Danger so that was a lucky strike.

Hermann was not sure. But it should be done: they _needed_ that information, the Marshal was right. They didn't have time. The Operation Pitfall was in progress and it was a last, suicide, attempt from Humanity. It had to be done.

But he couldn't let Newton to do it. It was a miracle that he had survived the first drift. It was too soon to repeat it. Plus this with a _full_ brain. Hermann knew the PONS's tech so well. It was a madness.

The image of Newton convulsing on the floor of the lab when he entered was still stuck to his retinas... and in his chest.

There was only one way to make it work.

He couldn't believe that he was going to do it but he had no alternative so he swallowed and took a step forward, toward Newton who was working against the clock to optimise his drift system, built from pieces of garbage. Complete madness...

"I'll go with you."

Newton stopped, suddenly, himself, and turn towards him, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, like he believed that something was wrong. Like a double event instead of a triple event when numbers never lie. Oh, everything was very wrong right now.

And he couldn't let Newton do that alone. It would kill him.

( _Please, please... be alive. I love you..._ The thoughts and the distress which he had felt when he had found Newt in the lab, were still stuck in his chest. Despite that he hadn't time to analyze them – not that he wanted the time anyway, frightened as he was).

Newton glared at him for an eternal second, like nothing else existed but them. His voice trembled (a very little, but Hermann noticed it. In his eyes).

"You're serious? You... you would do that for me? ... or would do that with me?"

Hermann swallowed once more time and tried to stand a bit straighter. Trying to project more certainty than he was feeling.

"Well, with worldwide destruction a certain alternative... Do I really have a choice?”

It was a way of saying 'yes'.

I will do this with you. I will do this for you. And for me. And for all.

_We will do this together._

As he placed the PONS helmet on he begged that they would both survive to that night.

···

The Drift was blue. The Drift was blue and overwhelming. The Drift was a thousand images projecting on his retina. The Drift was storm and tide. Of memories. Of feelings. Of knowledge. Of being.

In the Drift he was impossible to separate himself from what wasn’t him. He was lost in the memories of the kaiju hive - vast and brilliant, infinite. In the memories of Newton. (Drift compatible. He had even considered it before saying they would do it together).

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't exist. He wasn't himself and was everyone.

He knew what it was being raised only with his father and his uncle, their fond smiles, always trying to make him happy, alone. He knew what it was to consider the Anteverse his home. He knew what it was to play guitar alone in his room and love giant monsters (Kaiju). He knew what it was to have claws and tail and fangs. He knew what it was to decorate the lab with the Christmukkah garlands. He knew what it was to pass through the Breach - this breach and the other breaches in other worlds before. He knew what it was to look at Hermann and wonder. He knew what it was to exist connected to others. He knew what it was to connect to that hive for first time – the fear, the fascination, Otachi’s tongue and the terror and he knew what it was to be Otachi. He knew- He knew-

Too many memories for him to be aware of each single one of them.

They broke against him like waves. Like he was the seashore.

Somewhere, in some universe, he noticed the hot blood dripping from his nose, staining his lip. Here, his conscience knew for a moment what it meant - the neural overdose - but then it was lost again. In the Drift. In the blue. In the storm. In the memories. Being himself and not being himself.

And then the Drift finished. The memories left him, taking the overload with them, hollowing him out. If he could he would have feared that the Drift would take him away with it. But it didn’t. He was there. With black eyes and trembling. He could not have an attack now. He couldn't. He had to run to the side in order to throw up.

And then he looked at Newton, next to him. The memories were a jumble. It didn't matter. They had to go to the LOCCENT _now_. The plan wasn't going to work and they had to let them know.

···

The Drift still buzzed deep in the back of his mind. Hermann still felt muddled, as if the waves moved him from one side to another - adrift. They had won. Operation Pitfall had been a success in the end: Newton and Hermann had arrived on time in the LOCCENT and the Breach had been sealed. The clock had returned to 0 and the war was over.

They had won.

At last.

However not everything was finished: there was still work to be done. Hermann wanted to run a few tests to confirm with his predictive models that the Breach really was sealed _forever_. Newton and he had to go through the medical bay... both had the characteristic red ring of the neural overdose hugging their iris. But not now. Now it was time to celebrate. Mako and Raleigh had been rescued alive from their suicide attack and Herc, as the new Marshal, had given a speech in the memory of the fallen and for the victory in the middle of the now crowded jeager hangar. Then the champagne arrived and... Hermann was unable to pinpoint when and how the party had started but... they deserved it. All of them.

Newton, next to his side, threw an arm around his neck again, raising a beer and shouting cheerfully in another toast improvised by someone. Hermann had lost count of how many toast there had been but he knew that both were more drunk than they should be.  Also he had lost count of the times that Newton had embraced him by the shoulders... an unnecessary contact in theory but Hermann had yet to rejected it. He hadn't separated much from Newton even once that night. Always staying close.

He still felt the tendrils of the Drift in the corners of his mind. The memories were confused, like they were unfixable. But he felt Newton next to him with more clarity than ever before, without even having to look at him.

And he knew that Newton wanted to kiss him.

That certainty was drying his mouth out with nervously but he still didn't turn away. He couldn't read minds: it didn't work like that. He was no longer in Newton's head. But it was like an _echo_ and, in some moments, he certainly knew that Newton was just thinking about kissing him. Like part of the euphoria that he felt in the chest that encouraged him to drink wasn't his. It was vibrant and overwhelming. He had heard about the nexus that linked two pilots, the drift bond afterward the neural bridge... but he had never believed that he would experience it for himself. Now it was like he was himself and a quarter more. A quarter of Newton.

He had lost count of the times that his eyes exchanged looks with Newton, the times in which he was _sure_ that the biologist was about to kiss him... But he didn't.

So he didn’t either.

In that moment his eyes found Mako's in the crowd, on the other side of the hangar. She wasn't far away from Raleigh and Hermann noticed how they were holding hands. Their eyes found each other in the crowd. Then she smiled toward him and made a little gesture in Hermann's direction - and Newt's. But Newton didn't see it. Somehow part of Hermann knew what it meant - suddenly he remember their talk ago - but then Newt shouted in his ear and he couldn't think more about it.

He just finished his drink, trying not to think about it. Succeeded. And someone – probably Tendo - filled his glass again.

It was a night of celebration.

**···**

19th of January.

It was Newton's birthday.

Seven days after the Day of Victory and the Shatterdome had only just begun to breathe again. The world still celebrated the victory and meanwhile the PPCP members bustled about with work. There were a lot of things to do and many lose ends to tie together. Newton and Hermann had had to go through the medical center - luckily the Drift had caused no permanent and the broken capillaries of their eyes would recover naturally - and though the microphones and cameras of the journalist. The world wanted to know the details of how the world had been saved. And everyone seemed to have forgotten that only two weeks ago nobody had faith in them.

In the near future the last Shatterdome would be shutted down. Hermann had confirmed that the Breach was closed. The War was finally over and the PPCD had completed its work.

A decade after Humanity had first won.

What would happen now?

_I love you... Please, don't be dead..._

At night Hermann dreamt in blue. Dreams of the Drift. And, sometimes, he remembered the moment where he found Newton seizuring on the ground, bleeding, and in those moments a knot tightened in his throat. The war was over and finally he had time to discuss and analyze his thoughts... his feelings. Even though previously he had resisted evaluating them...

_I love you..._

It was January 19 and it was Newton's birthday. Hermann knew the date even though neither of them had ever celebrated birthdays at the Shatterdome. It was unprofessional and they were in the middle of a War: there was no time for such silly things. But now the War was over and, in a month, they would have to clear the out the lab – _their_ \- lab.

_I love you..._

He found Newton in the lab like any other day. It was still difficult for the biologist to deal with the idea of packing and leaving his samples and occasionally Hermann felt, as a ghost, the same difficulty, as if it was his own. Adapting had never been easy for Newton, he didn't do well with changes after so long accustomed to that lab. Hermann had always huffed about it but never understood how genuinely difficult it really was until the Drift. Now they were connected _forever_.

Hermann had known that he would find him there but he cleared his throat before entering.

On having heard him, Newton raised his head and only muttered a low "Ah, Herms" when he realized that it was him.

For once Hermann missed the ridiculous nickname and approached Newton's table.

"Happy birthday, Newton", Hermann wished him instead and handed him a folded paper, only adorned with a red bow since it was the only thing he had found and it was just a sheet of paper. He wasn't going to wrap _one_ sheet.

This time Newton stooped as if he were witnessing an apparition. As if Hermann had announced that the UFOs were here and not like he had wished him happy birthday. That expression made him to blush, feeling suddenly ridiculous.

"What...?", Newton started to ask.

"Today is your birthday, right?", Hermann countered. "Just take the gift, Newton, by Jove. I didn't think that you would be one of those people who would reject a gift..."

Hermann didn't need Newton to say it loud to know what he was thinking right now - he didn’t even need the phantom drift-: ‘You’ve never have given me a gift before, Hermann… nor I to you…’

But Newt appeared to overcome his astonishment and grabbed the paper with a bit of curiosity. Perhaps that was the reason why he opened it slowly, instead of in a rush like he usually did with any other present.

"A report, dude?", he asked when he unfold it. "Really? Are you fucking kidding me?"

And Hermann seethed. "Just read it, would you?!"

Without a word Newt started to read it and his face began to transform as he understood what he was reading.

"I have spoken with Marshal Hansen", Hermann explained with strong neutral voice. "He is still busy but we have discussed the issue of the samples in the lab. Some - preferably those are not useful - will be donated to various museums; but the rest... you can keep them when we leave the Shatterdome. If you have a prepared lab for them. As, for example, the MIT's lab." Hermann didn't need to ask Newton to know that he would seek a position at and return to his alma mater when they had to leave Hong Kong. After they had finished the seminars and the press conferences all over the world. And before receiving a Nobel prize the following December in Oslo – it was an open secret even though it had only been a week since the war ended. But no one dared to doubt that it would have been impossible without their research: they were the biggest experts on the kaiju and the Breach in the world.

Hermann allowed himself to enjoy the surprise in Newton's face. Newt couldn’t even believed that Hermann knew when his birthday was - even though he knew that Hermann's was on the 9th of June.

"Do you... have you done this for _me_?"

Hermann tried to not make his fluster too obvious.

"Well... as you have been complaining for the past week that you still have ongoing research and there are still many thing we don't know about the kaiju. And the Marshal had not even though about what to do with the samples", Hermann tried to downplay the issue.

It didn't matter: still grabbing the paper with force, Newton circled - almost jumped - the table and threw himself against him, hugging him with such force that Hermann believed he was going to asphyxiate him. The biologist's eyes were almost teaing up with emotion. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Hermann. This is the best birthday present of my life!", he muttered against his neck.

Hermann noticed the warm and faint smile on his own face, hugging Newton back, feeling clumsy.

Newton's body was almost trembling and it seemed to radiate warmth, melting each of Hermann's cells despite of the clothes between them both... It was probably a psychosomatic effect that the biologist could explain much better than him.

_I love you..._

"I love you...", he mumbled suddenly. Without planning it. In fact, against all his plans. The words just escaped his lips, betraying him, and Hermann only realized it when Newton tensed in the hug. And with terror Hermann become aware that he _had_ said those words aloud.

He separated Newton from him and looked at him in the eye, feeling his face turn red. It was earlier than he planned but... that only meant that he had to do it right now... He wished he could have planned it a bit more. He had thought so much about it in the last week, even if it suffocated and paralyzed him.

"Newton... I love you", he confessed sincerely. If he was going to speak then he would at least do it _properly_ and sincerely. Thing had to be done properly. That was a way of life for him. "I've been thinking carefully about it these days before talking with you; although I only realized it that day... after your first drift" Hermann still hated Newton a bit - a lot - for that. The anxiety was still there, in his chest. "I understand this may be surprising but... I also know that you wanted to kiss me the other day at the party. I wasn't prepared, I'm sorry, and I would understand if you believe that this is a mad but I have to tell you. It was the least I could do. It's only fair that you know the truth", he explained, with bated breath, with the heart hammering him between the ribs.

Despite the shame that burned on his cheeks, Hermann looked at him fixedly, with intensity. He had to do it. The astonishment was still on Newton's face, bordering on horror... And Hermann started to get nervous, feeling the distress hat he hadn’t felt before entering the lab. Maybe it had been a mistake...?

"Hermann... you...", Newton began, trying to thaw his amazement.

But it wasn't easy (Hermann... _Hermann!_ just had tell him that he love him. _Loved. Him!_ ) and he did the only thing he could do: act rather than talk.

Newton leant forward and joined his own lips with Hermann's with intensity and his heart beat deafening him. This time Hermann was the stunned one and for a few moments he didn't know how to react, before shyly starting to return the kiss.

That was enough for Newton: the biologist hugged him, pressing his body against Hermann's, with closed eyes.

The drift bond was still there and only one thought pounded on Hermann's mind, even if he wasn't able to distinguish if it was his or Newt's: _finally_.

He closed his eyes too, feeling the touch of Newt's lips and letting himself go with the kiss.

Finally.

Hermann briefly remembered the words Mako had said. The no-longer-so-small Mako holding hands with Raleigh, together. And now _finally_ he understood her words. What she meant that day when she implied that Newton would need a gift more than she. She had always been a very observant girl. So much so that she had realized something that neither Hermann nor Newton had dared to see until now.

I love you.

Finally.

They couldn't kiss forever - even if they wanted to try - and when they separated a bit, Newton's green eyes sparkled with electrical excitement and Hermann noticed his own cheeks were flushed.

"Dude... I never thought that...", Newton seemed unable to speak. Hermann wanted to advise him to breathe but he was incapable of doing it also. "I never though you feel the same... Or that you'd be the one who..."

"Who took the first step", completed Hermann when Newton didn't. He hand’t thought so either, he would have never imagine it... But... To remember the Drift was confusing, as if his mind tried to understand something too big, too huge – like the infinite of the Universe, or all the digits of pi... - but he remembered Newton... remembered Newton looking at him, thinking, wanting but not daring... For how long? And he had not even realized...

"To be honest I have to say that I had some help", he admitted.

He couldn't stop smiling. Newton was also smiling. Without being able to contain themselves. (Finally).

He would have to thank Mako. They would have to gie¡¡ve her a good thank-you gift as soon as they could.

She was a very smart gold-hearted girl.

 

 

**END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hermann gives a gift to Newton just because he is too respectable and shy for say that a declaration and a kiss from him are a birthday present e_e - although Newton thinks they are.


End file.
